Children of War
by SheIsKaraM
Summary: "We were at school when the first shots were heard in Risembool." The Ishvalan War was spreading, can our favorite trio make it to safety? Overall story is pretty tame except for a little gore in Ch 2.
1. Chapter 1: Prayer of the Children

**Hello there! I know I should be working on the others, I just couldn't get this one out of my head. This fic is inspired by the _Prayer of the Children_ by Kurt Bestor and FMA:B episode _The Ishvalan War of Extermination_. This story is basically another of my "What if..."s. What if the war reached and decimated Risembool? This story will answer that question. I will put the verse of the song the chapter is based on at the start of the chapter. This chapter is just set-up, so that's why this chapter's verse makes no sense with its contents. ****Italics are present day (Ed is telling the story). Enjoy!**

 **I own neither the song nor FMA. Darn**

 _ **Dali cujete sve djecje molitive?**_

 _ **(Croatian translation: 'Can you hear all the children's prayers?')  
Can you hear the prayer of the children?**_

Prayer of the Children

 _We were at school when the first shots were heard in Risembool. I knew there was a war going on, but I thought it would never reach there. School ended early that day._

* * *

"Brother," Al asked on the walk home, "Will we have to leave?"

Alphonse Elric, in all his 6-year-old cuteness, looked up at Ed with pleading eyes. Edward, Al's 7-year-old brother, continued to stare straight ahead, focusing on the path before him. Ed didn't know. He hoped their mother would tell them it would be alright and they could stay. But Ed knew better. He knew better than to get his hopes up.

"I don't know Al," Ed replied with a twinge of sadness.

Ed wanted to reassure his brother. He truly did. Ed also knew that he could never lie to Al. Ed knew what lying would do to Al and refused to hurt the young boy.

"I hope we don't," Winry, the boys' friend and neighbor who was Ed's age, said, looking at Ed over Al's head, "I like it here."

Since their houses were relatively close, Ed, Al, and Winry would often walk home together. Winry's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell, had been friends of the boys' mother, Trisha. However, Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell were doctors and the military asked them to help with the soldiers. They died only six months after their departure. Winry cried for days.

* * *

 _More gunshots rang out just then, scaring the crap out of us. We practically ran home after that._

* * *

"See you later Winry!" Ed shouted. Winry only waved in response.

"Brother, I don't want to leave," Al cried.

"We're not gonna leave, Al," Ed reassured the boy, "The guns are gonna go away and we'll never hear them again."

"Ok."

* * *

 _The sounds of war only moved closer. School had been suspended indefinitely when more gunshots were heard in the night. Al was too scared to go to school anyway. The farthest we ventured from the house was to go to Winry's. Mom and Granny Pinako seemed to be going and talking privately more often after the first shots sounded through the valley. The three of us were clueless as to why for about two days. Mom and Granny told us their plans after dinner the third night of war._

* * *

"We're leaving!?" Winry shouted.

"Winry, calm down," Pinako attempted to calm her granddaughter, "We'll be fine. There's a-"

"Calm down?!" Winry raged, "So, what? We're supposed to leave everything that we have here?"

"Yes," Trisha sternly answered her, no room for argument in the woman's tone or expression.

Winry immediately quieted and sat back down. Ed and Al looked at her sadly.

"As Pinako was trying to say," Trisha continued, "There is a camp just outside East City set up for Amestrians fleeing to safety. It's too dangerous to take the train so we're going to have to hike through the mountains to get there. We leave in two days. I think it best you three start packing. Bring only what you absolutely need, nothing more. We have to carry everything we take."

* * *

 _So we spent the next two days packing and re-packing our stuff. There was so much that we wanted to take, but we knew that taking all of it would be too much. Mom checked over our things and gave her approval after we had our final decisions made. Mom also cut down on the food she gave us in an attempt to save it for the journey._

 _All through that time, the war got ever closer. Explosions were heard on the fifth day. We saw many people pass our house, which was unusual for our village. We all knew what it meant though. They were leaving, escaping to the safe haven in East City. We were set to leave for East City on the sixth day._

 _Somehow, there was an air of hope when morning dawned that day. My guess is that we were not worried about the trip and that things would be better when we arrived. Oh, how wrong we were._


	2. Chapter 2: Shattered

**I do have this entire story finished so updates will be more frequent. Verses will be out of order in regards to the song. Sorry if that would annoy anyone.**

 **Next chapter of _The Prince_ is finished, I just need to edit and revise. Next chapter of _Direct_ is almost done (I think).**

 **There is a little bit of gore in this chapter. Warning for those who do not wish to read. It's a little shorter too. I cut if off where I did because it fit best.**

 **Still don't own FMA:B or the song.**

 _ **Can you hear the voice of the children  
softly pleading for silence in a shattered world?  
Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate,  
blood of the innocent on their hands.**_

Shattered

The small band of five left the Rockbell house just after sun-up. Spirits were high when they set out. All were sad to leave their homes, but they had no other choice. The war was getting closer and if they didn't leave now, they would most likely end up in a mass grave. They had only made it about two miles before they heard gunfire.

"I thought you said this route was safe!" Winry cried.

"As did I," Trisha concurred, "Come on kids, we gotta run!"

* * *

 _So we ran. We ran as fast as our little legs could take us. It didn't take long for Granny to fall behind._

* * *

"Pinako!" Trisha shouted.

Ed, Al, and Winry stopped and turned. Pinako was doubled over and breathing heavily. Tisha went back to help her.

"No," Pinako protested, "Go ahead of me. I'll catch up."

"We can't leave you behind," Trisha refused.

"Go. I'll only slow you down."

Gunfire burst through the trees before Trisha could say another word. It splintered trees and sent bark flying. The kids dove for cover. They didn't move for about a minute before Ed looked over to where Trisha and Pinako were standing.

"Mom! Granny!" The seven-year-old cried as he ran to his mother and friend. Al and Winry looked up at his shout. What they saw would scar them for the rest of their lives.

Trisha and Pinako were lying on the ground, covered in blood. The three children ran over to their family and friend. Ed stopped just short of the two women, horrified by what he saw upon closer inspection. Trisha and Pinako were riddled with bullet holes. Blood poured out of them all. But that is not what stopped Ed. What stopped him was the mess of brains that had spilled out of his mother's head and a large hole in Pinako's chest. Ed dropped to his knees, unable to comprehend what he was looking at.

Al and Winry ran past him, closing the distance between them and the two dead adults. The two children screamed at the women. They begged and begged for Trisha and Pinako to wake. Ed watched them silently, until an explosion in the distance broke him of his trance.

"We have to go," Ed told the two others as he stood up.

Al and Winry looked up at him in shock. They stared at him for a moment before protests started forcing their way out of the two children's lips.

"We can't leave them!"

"What about our food?"

"Shut up!" Ed silenced them, "We have to leave them. They're dead and we can't carry them. I know you two don't want to leave them but we have to. It's the only way we'll survive. We can split the food among our bags, we don't need as much now anyway.

"Mom and Granny would want us to go. They gave their lives so that we would live. And if we are going to live, we have to leave **now**."

Al and Winry looked at each other for a moment before standing up. The three then grabbed the bags of food and split it among their bags. The rest of the day was spent walking in silence.


	3. Chapter 3: Morning Light

**Sorry this is a little late. I was out of town for the weekend. First time travelling alone. It wasn't as bad as I though it would be.**

 **Trying to figure out this chapter was a little difficult. What I mean will make sense after reading.**

 **I do not own FMA or _Prayer of the Children_.**

 _ **Crying "Jesus, help me  
to see the morning light-of one more day.  
But if I should die before I wake,  
I pray my soul to take."**_

Morning Light

 _The three of us were in shock. Watching the last of our family die sent us reeling. We made camp near some boulders that night. The second day of walking was also spent in silence. Processing those deaths took a lot out of us. The fighting had also lulled that day. It didn't occur to me until that afternoon that I should've been hearing gunfire. I was glad for the quiet, but it did seem a little ominous._

* * *

The sun hung low in the sky when the children stopped for dinner. Al had complained about being hungry for the past hour and Ed finally got sick of his brother's whining.

"Do we want to make camp here, or do we want to walk a little more tonight?" Winry asked.

"We should probably make camp here," Ed replied, "Al's eyes are drooping and he looks about ready to fall over."

"What you talking about me?" Al mumbled sleepily.

Ed and Winry gave small smiles to Al's exhausted speech before getting the supplies set up for the night. Winry got to work figuring out just what of the food to use while Ed gathered some wood and stones to make a fire. Upon seeing what the older two were doing, Al got out their blankets and set them in a small circle. He knew that the blankets' positions would change through the night, but the circle gave Ed a place to put the fire.

Winry started on the food when Ed got the fire going at a decent rate. It looked to be beans in a sauce with some ham chunks mixed in. Not much, Ed noted, but at least it'll fill us up enough through mid-morning tomorrow. The three ate in silence. Ed ate while trying to decide whether to share his concerns with the other two or not. He was sure Winry would have noticed to odd silence but was not so sure about Al. Ed didn't want to scare Al anymore than the boy already was so Ed kept his mouth shut. They went to sleep in silence.

The next morning was quiet as well. Ed was now getting extremely concerned about the lack of gunfire. He again kept his concerns to himself.

The three packed up what they had and started walking again. It was about an hour after their mid-morning breakfast when a large bang ran through the valley. The ground shook for about a minute after that. All three children screamed as they fell down.

"Brother!" Al cried.

Ed crawled over to his terrified brother. Winry crawled over to Al as well. The three clung to each other as the ground shook. They shakily got up when the tremors ended, but stayed close to each other in case there were aftershocks.

The afternoon passed much the same. Ed, Al, and Winry would walk for about an hour, then another bang followed by tremors would ensue. No one knew what to make of the new development. The three knew it was some kind of explosive. They just didn't know that such a powerful one existed. Ed finally put together why it was so quiet yesterday. The military was preparing the explosive. He idly wondered how much of Risembool still existed.

* * *

 _The repetitions of tremors stopped briefly during the evening hours. I guess the soldiers running the weapon were taking a break for dinner. The respite lasted about three hours. We were just about to fall asleep when the repetitions began again._

* * *

The three were startled awake by the bang and subsequent earthquake.

"I thought they were done for the night," Winry wondered aloud.

"So did I," Ed agreed with his friend. He moved closer to hold Al upon seeing the child's fear. Ed knew that none of them would sleep if the repetitions kept up. Ed quietly shared this concern with Winry. She said she was thinking the same. Both mentally prepared for a long night. Ed looked down when he heard Al speaking softly.

"God, if you're out there, can you help us?" He pleaded, "I don't want to die. Please help us. Can you at least get ua through the night? Please? I like it here. Though the last couple of days haven't been the best, I still want to stay..."

* * *

 _I didn't know what to think. Al and I were never taught to believe in a God. We had no religion. But what he said stuck with me. It broke my heart to hear him so scared. I knew he was scared but hearing the fear and waver to his voice hurt more than anything. I wanted to tell him everything would be alright, but I wasn't so sure of that myself. Besides, I doubt he would've believed me anyway._


	4. Chapter 4: Aching Hope

**What'd you guys think of that last chapter?**

 **Were the attacks believable? It was hard to write because I needed something that would adequately scare the kids but still be related to the war. They're far enough away to be relatively out of danger but still close enough that they can still hear/feel the fighting. If you don't understand why I needed the scare, read the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter again.**

 **We're about halfway through the story now. Yay! I'm nowhere near that with my other ones. Sorry about that. No inspiration to be found. They will be updated, eventually.**

 **Anyway, I don't own FMA or the song. Enjoy!**

 _ **Can you feel the hearts of the children  
aching for home, for something of their very own?  
Reaching hands, with nothing to hold on to,  
But hope for a better day a better day**_

Aching Hope

 _After a horribly long night trying to console by brother, the morning of the fourth day of our journey finally dawned. I never thought a sunrise could be so beautiful. It gave me hope that we would make it to the camp. We packed our stuff and headed out, stopping mid-morning to eat._

 _The further we walked, the less intense the tremors became. We stopped hearing the bangs just before breakfast and couldn't feel the tremors anymore before noon. The loss of the tremors lifted our spirits a little. The high spirits didn't last long because around midday I heard sniffling behind me._

* * *

Ed turned around only to find tears streaming down Al's face. He stopped and walked back to the younger boy.

"Al? What's wrong?" Ed asked his brother.

Al kept sniffling, his words barely understandable. After a couple more tries at getting Al to talk clearly, Ed finally understood what Al wanted. He wanted to go home.

"Al," Ed attempted to explain as gently as he could, "you heard the bangs, you felt the earthquakes. Risembool wouldn't survive that, couldn't survive that."

Al mumbled a little more.

"I know you want to go home, but home doesn't exist anymore. If we go back all we'll see is a wasteland. We can't go home, because there is no place left."

Al continued to cry, harder than before. Ed sighed. He knew that he couldn't get his brother to calm down. He resigned himself to listen to the crying for the time being. Winry looked over at Ed and they shared a look. They would they would have to let it be.

After about ten minutes of coaxing, Ed and Winry got Al moving again. He was still crying, but he was at least walking again. We can still make it by tomorrow, Ed thought to himself, we can still make it. He clung to this hope with everything he had. It was the only hope he had left anyway. Any other hope died with his mother, was destroyed by the earthquakes. He wanted to think that there was a possibility of going home, but he knew better. The explosions the day before destroyed what was left of the small village. All the three children had left was each other. That realization hurt all of them.

* * *

 _I never thought I could have been more heartbroken when I finally realized that the two with me were all I had. Everything else was left in Risembool, which by then was destroyed._

 _Al finally stopped crying about an hour before sunset. I was grateful for that. It meant he accepted the truth and was ready to move on. We were all pretty tired of the crying by then and the lack of noise was welcome. I looked up to the horizon a little later. What I saw left me with a warm feeling in my heart._

* * *

"Al, Winry, Look!" Ed called, pointing at something in the distance.

The two looked to where Ed was pointing. Their eyes widened.

"East City," Winry whispered.


	5. Chapter 5: Unknown Room

**I am so sorry this is late guys! Completely forgot about this.**

 **On a different note, there are two more chapters after this and the story is finished. I'll probably do some one-shots based off this to answer a few questions. There will probably be a lot of questions when the last chapter comes out. Just keep in mind that this is the main story.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! I own nothing but my OCs.**

 _ **Can you hear the prayer of the children  
on bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room?  
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry  
turning heavenward toward the light.**_

Unknown Room

The children made camp that night where they were. Hope sparked anew for all three of them. Since they were also out of the tremor's radius, they also slept better than they had previously. Morning dawned with hope in the sun's burgeoning rays.

"Come one guys," Al repeated for the tenth time, "the earlier we get going, the sooner we get to the camp."

"We know," both Ed and Winry replied, their tones dripping with annoyance. Al had been impatient the entire morning. Considering how close the kids were, Ed and Winry couldn't blame him. They wanted to get there too. But they still had to pack their things.

About half an hour after waking, the children were on their way to East City.

* * *

 _I remember that morning being both upbeat, but also taking forever. The day just dragged on without end. It took most of it to actually get to the city. Once we were there, though, finding the camp was not too hard._

* * *

Ed, Al, and Winry stepped into utter chaos. That was the only word to describe what was happening. People darted everywhere. Ed, Al, and Winry had to hold hands to avoid being separated. Al wanted to find a corner and hide, but Ed pulled through the crowds searching for some kind of head or leader or something. What the person would look like, Ed had no idea.

After about five minutes of pushing through crowds, Ed saw a man in a military uniform. Ed, Al, and Winry were told that the camp was run by the military so Ed figured he could ask this person what to do. He walked up to the man without a second thought.

"Excuse me," Ed called up to the man. The officer didn't respond.

"Excuse me," Ed repeated louder, while also tugging on his pant leg.

The man finally noticed the children. He smiled and crouched in order to be on the same level as them. Ed noted that the man seemed nice.

"Hello," he said, "And what can I do for you?"

"We were hoping for a place to stay," Ed answered.

The man smiled again, "Well, I can certainly help with that. I just need to ask you a couple questions, ok?"

Ed nodded.

"Ok. What are your names, what are your ages, and where are you from?"

"I'm Edward Elric, this is my brother Alphonse, and she is our friend Winry Rockbell. Winry and I are seven and Al is six. We come from Risembool."

"It is good to meet you Ed, Al, Winry. I am Lieutenant Colonel James Winter. Anything you need, just come and ask. I do have one last question for you."

Ed looked at him nervously. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Where are your parents?"

All three children looked down to the ground. Winter sighed and looked down when he saw their reaction to the question. No words needed to be spoken, he knew what the kids meant.

* * *

 _I liked Lt. Col. Winter, he was nice. After our initial conversation, he asked one of the volunteers to get us set up and show us around the camp. I was actually impressed that we got a tent to ourselves. But then again, those tents were small._

 _Food was served three times a day. I was the one to get the food for the three of us most of the time. I think the kitchen staff liked me because it looked like they filled our plates a little fuller than the others._

 _We also had run of the camp. I'm not sure why that's significant to me. I guess it's because I thought we were going to be kept in a special section of the camp specifically for the orphans, but I'm not sure. I just liked being able to go wherever I wanted._


	6. Chapter 6: Loving Arms

**I am so sorry I haven't posted this on time. I am pretty preoccupied with musical practices at the moment so, yeah.**

 **Anyway, this is the second to last chapter. There will not be an epilogue. Thoug, you can take the last few paragraphs of the next chapter as an epilogue if you'd like.**

 **Note: this chapter is from Mustang's perspective but italics are still Edward speaking.**

 _ **Crying "Jesus, help me**_

 _ **to feel the love again in my own land,**_

 _ **but if unknown roads lead away from home,**_

 _ **give me loving arms, away from harm?**_

Loving Arms

He didn't know what drew him there, but for some odd reason Mustang went to the refugee camp just outside East City. He was on leave from Ishval after a particularly long assignment. The Amestrians had taken back a small village just before he left. He had two weeks to relax and unwind before being sent back to the warzone.

Mustang was about halfway through the camp when a shock of golden ran right in front of him. He looked at the kid and guessed he was around eight years old. The boy was carrying three tins of food. I guess he has family that he's getting those for, Mustang thought.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Mustang followed the boy. He was led to a tent near the edge of the camp. Two other children who looked to be about the same age as the first boy sat outside the tent. One was another boy and looked nearly the same as the first boy, having golden hair and eyes. Mustang guessed the boys were brothers. The other child, a girl, didn't look as much like the boys. Her hair was more blonde and she had typical blue eyes.

The first boy passed out the tins to his companions. Mustang decided that watching them from behind another tent would be odd and went up to the three children.

"Hi. Can I sit with you?"

The kids looked up from their food. They looked confused at his request but let him sit anyway. Mustang sat there awkwardly for a few moments before speaking again.

"I'm Roy Mustang. What are your names?"

The kids looked at him for a moment before the first boy answered.

"I'm Ed."

"Winry," said the girl

The other boy looked to Ed nervously. He sighed.

"His name is Al, my little brother. He's shy around new people."

"Good to meet you all," Mustang smiled. So they are brothers, he thought.

"What are you doing here?" Winry asked.

"I'm not really sure to be honest. I'm on leave for a couple weeks so I can relax. I guess my mind decided to come here without my consent."

"'On leave'," Ed questioned, "Are you a soldier?"

"Yeah."

The kids looked down for a moment before Ed spoke up again.

"Do you know anything about Risembool?"

Mustang was surprised by the question. He looked at the kids' faces. All had expectant looks. Mustang idly wondered why they wanted to know.

"Amestris had just taken back control of the village when I left."

The kids breathed a sigh of relief. Mustang decided to ask a question in return.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Risembool is our home," Ed answered, "Is there any chance we could go back?"

Mustang sighed, "No. It's almost nothing but craters."

Ed and Winry looked downtrodden. Al burst into tears. Ed got up and walked over to comfort his brother. Mustang lowered his head and looked at the ground. He was berating himself for saying it so bluntly. He should have just ended with a "no."

"Is that a transmutation circle?"

Mustang looked up at the sudden question. Al had gotten himself under control enough to notice the glove sticking out of Mustang's pocket. Mustang nodded.

"You're an alchemist," Ed stated.

Mustang nodded again.

"Could we see it?" the boys asked together.

Mustang chuckled at the sudden change of mood and pulled out his glove. The boys looked over it in fascination. They started talking about the different parts of the array and tried to figure out what the array did.

"It has something to do with combustion," Ed stated.

Mustang smiled. The boys were smart.

"It's the flame alchemy array. I'm the Flame alchemist."

The boys looked at Mustang in wonder. They were amazed.

"Are you two studying alchemy?"

The boys nodded vigorously.

Mustang smiled, "How long have you been studying?"

Ed smiled back, "Ever since we could read. Three years for Al and four years for me."

Mustang was astonished. Those boys were smart alright. They've been studying for only a few years and were already able to decipher what his transmutation circle basicly did.

* * *

 _He talked with us the entire afternoon. Having a person who understood alchemy to talk to was a nice change. Most everyone in Risembool were farmers and had no idea what Al and I were going on about when we went into alchemy mode._

 _He left when the sun was low in the sky, saying something about getting home before dark. We waved him goodbye and asked him to come back soon. He never returned._


	7. Chapter 7: Peace Again

**Last chapter guys! Yes, it's sad that it's ending. I do have some one-shots in mind for this UA. If anyone else has ideas, please let me know.**

 **I have performances this week. So tired.**

 **I own nothing but my OCs.**

 _ **Crying "Jesus, help me**_

 _ **to feel the sun again upon my face?**_

 _ **For when darkness clears I know you're near,**_

 _ **bringing peace again"**_

Peace Again

 _We were in that camp for about a month while our records were sorted out. We were sent to an orphanage further into the city when everything was in order. The three of us begged the officials to put us in the same place. I think we annoyed them enough that they finally just gave in. We were packed within minutes and headed to the orphanage_.

 _The war ended about three months after we got to the orphanage. I asked our Patron, Mr. Jacobs, if we could see Risembool. He told us that the place is still too dangerous for anyone other than military to be there. I was saddened at the news but understood why. I felt the tremors rock the area. My hopes of seeing the place were raised when a familiar black-haired man came to visit the three of us._

* * *

"Mr. Mustang!" Al said happily when he looked up from his book.

Ed put his book down at Al's sudden words **.** Ed smiled.

"Hello boys," Roy greeted them, "Where's Winry?"

"In the bathroom," Ed answered, then pointed to a pile of medical books, "That's her pile over there."

"Ah," Roy said while sitting down.

The boys finally noticed what Roy was wearing as the man sat down. He was in uniform. The clothes piqued the boys' interests.

"What does everything on your uniform mean?" Al asked.

"What? What parts?"

"The badges on your shoulders and the medals," Ed clarified.

"Oh," Roy smiled, "Well, the medals are for bravery, valor, and leadership, respectively. The shoulder badges denote my rank. I am a Lieutenant Colonel."

"Just like Mr. Winter!" Al exclaimed.

"What?"

"Lt. Col. Winter was the officer in charge of the camp we were at," Ed clarified, again.

Roy hummed in understanding. Winry came back from the bathroom just then. She was surprised but delighted to see Roy. He idly wondered how much room he would need for all their books.

* * *

 _The four talked for another hour before Mr. Jacobs booted Roy out. As Roy walked out the door, he asked Mr. Jacobs what the requirements for becoming the kids' guardian would be. The list was fairly long but Roy was sure he could have everything ready._

 _We were at the orphanage for another month before one of the volunteers came into our rooms and told the three of us to start packing. We didn't know why we were being moved but we packed anyway._

* * *

The volunteer was waiting outside the kids' rooms when the three finished packing. She led Ed, Al, and Winry to the front door. The sight that greeted them was unexpected, but not unwelcome. There was Lt. Col. Roy Mustang signing documents. Three sets of documents by the looks of the piles.

"Here they are sir," the volunteer said to Roy, "Edward and Alphonse Elric as well as Winry Rockbell."

Roy looked up and smiled. "Thank you ma'am." Then off to Mr. Jacobs, "I'm almost finished with these."

Ed, Al, and Winry were confused. Why was Roy here? What forms was he filling out? And why are we packed to leave? Ed was about to ask when Mr. Jacobs started talking.

"Congratulations Mr. Mustang," he said while shaking Roy's hand, "You are now a father." Mr. Jacobs then walked and squatted in front of Ed, Al, and Winry. "Congratulations to you three as well. Though you've only been here for a short time, we've loved having you. Now, I think it best that you go with you new dad, Mr.'s and Miss Mustang."

The kids were dumbstruck. Dad? Mr.'s and Miss Mustang?! Wait a minute…

"Did you adopt us?" Ed asked, eyes wide with shock.

Roy smiled and nodded his head.

The kids then looked at each other, confusion replaced with excitement. None of them could speak. They never thought anyone would want them; all they really did was read.

Ed, Al, and Winry were pulled out of their thoughts when Roy tried to usher them out the door. They immediately apologized and walked out the door. There was a car out on the curb. Roy grabbed the kids' bags and put them in the trunk while the kids climbed into the back seat. Roy made sure they were strapped in properly before sitting behind the wheel and driving to his, their, house.

* * *

 _We were still in a little bit of shock during the first couple minutes of the drive to the house. We suddenly bombarded our poor dad with questions when the shock wore off. He answered our questions as best he could, but we barely allowed him to talk. He eventually told us one question at a time. The ride went much smoother after that._

 _One of our questions was if we could go see Risembool one last time when it became safe to be there again. He could us that he would have to see about it. We did go after a while, but it was so destroyed it was unrecognizable. That was the moment we let everything from the past go. We knew we would never find mom's or Granny's bodies. There would never be proper funerals for either of them. We cried our tears for our old lives then and then left the destroyed village behind._

 _After that trip, the three of us started at the school for military kids. We all had a pretty good time there, although some kids did ask why we didn't look like dad. We deferred all those type of questions to our teachers because they could explain it better than we could._

 _We all graduated with honors and went on to do some great things. Winry's a doctor and automail mechanic, just like Granny and her biological parents. Al and I are State Alchemists. I'm a Lieutenant Colonel and Al is a Major._

 _Hohenheim, my biological father, did come back and tried to claim Al and I when we were about 14 and 15, respectively. However, since by all definitions he abandoned us, he could not lay claim. If a parent abandons their child and does not return to care for the child within two years, the parents' rights to the child are revoked. I was relieved to hear that, as I didn't really like the man anyway. He did leave us to fend for ourselves after all._

 _Now that I'm a State Alchemist, I travel a bit on assignment. On one of my assignments, I met a girl named Rose. It was to Liore to investigate a so-called priest who claimed to perform miracles. He was a fake. Rose, however, had put all her faith in him. She believed he could raise her dead boyfriend to life. I managed to convince her of the truth. A couple months after that, she made her way to East City, where I'm stationed. Long story short, we are married and have three wonderful kids._


	8. Author's Note

Explanatory author's note:

People have asked about what I changed from the manga. So here it is.

Hohenheim's reasons for leaving are the same. Many of the events prior to Ed and Al's births remain unchanged. I rearranged some timeline events to better align for this story.

Trisha never got sick.

Liore's events happen about four years later than in the manga.

The transmutation never happens. Ed entertains the thought but Mustang gave him the support and security that Trisha gave, therefore giving Ed no motivation to pursue the notion.

Ed doesn't have problems with authority. Observing Ed's behavior in the manga and animes, his authority problems stem from Hohenheim's abandonment and being the one to raise Al. The Ed in the original manga was used to being in control because he had to be for Al's sake. Therefore, submitting to authority, i.e. not being in control, scared him. When Mustang adopted the three, he became the parent that Ed needed. Ed never needed to be in control because he had his mother until he was seven, was in an orphanage for a few months, then got adopted by Mustang. Ed never felt that need because there was always a clear authority/parental figure there to take care of him and Al. (Yes, he had Pinako, Izumi, and Mustang but Ed never viewed them as a parental figures. To him, Pinako was an impersonal caretaker, Izumi was a teacher, and Mustang was a nuisance, nevermind the opinions about the military Pinako put Ed's head.)

Ed and Al became state alchemists at 18 after their respective high school graduations (hence Liore's events being a little later).

Winry still went to Garfiel's as an apprentice.

Events that happened because of Ed and Al do not happen, aside from Liore. (Nina, Xing's visitors, the Rush Valley birth, etc. still happen.)

Promised Day does not happen when Ed and Al are teens because they did not perform the transmutation and were therefore unable to be sacrifices.

Other Announcement:

I have ideas for some one-shots based on this story. They mostly have to do with events mentioned or a dive into a character's mind in regards to the material. Some stuff to look forward to:

Visit: Roy takes the trio to their destroyed home.

Talks with Friends: Roy and Hughes talk after Roy returns from leave.

Return: Hohenheim is back. Ed and Roy don't like that.

Can I?: Ed contemplates reviving his mother.

If I publish any of these, they will be titled as such: CoW: (insert specific title here).

Happy New Year everybody!


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